Oregon Ducks women: Is a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament even possible?

The Ducks are ranked No. 6 in the nation and just won the Pac-12 regular season championship for the first time in 18 years. Now, they will compete in the Pac-12 tournament before learning their seed in the NCAA tournament. PETE MARTINI / STATESMAN JOURNAL
Wochit

The Oregon women’s basketball program has had a record-setting season already, but there still is much at stake.

Oregon won its first Pac-12 championship since capturing back-to-back conference titles in 1999 and 2000, during the Jody Runge era.

But now, a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance could be at stake. However, UConn, Mississippi State, Baylor and Louisville all have fewer than three losses this season and seem destined to grab the four No. 1 seeds.

Oregon played both Mississippi State and Louisville this season, and lost by double digits in both games. And when the Ducks faced UConn in the Elite Eight last season, they lost by 38 points.

It seems unlikely that the tournament committee would give Oregon a No. 1 seed, even with a Pac-12 tournament championship.

The bigger concern would be possibly going one-and-done in the Pac-12 tournament this week at Seattle's KeyArena and dropping to a No. 3 seed.

Last season, Oregon made it to the Elite Eight, pulling off upsets along the way. Until the Final Four, the Ducks were the big story of the NCAA tournament.

This season, it has been a different path for Oregon.

As a favorite, the Ducks played with a giant target on their backs all season, and they handled that pressure by setting program records for both overall wins (27) and conference wins (16).

“This is really special,” Graves said to GoDucks.com after sweeping the Arizona schools on the road last weekend. “As coaches, we get into the business to help players realize their dreams and their potential. This team is realizing those right now.”

Oregon, ranked No. 6 in the nation, won’t play in the conference tournament until Friday, when it will face the winner of Thursday’s first-round matchup between Colorado and Utah.

The Ducks are looking like a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, and no matter what happens in the Pac-12 tournament, they should host the first two rounds of the NCAA at Matthew Knight Arena.

However, there is some pressure on the Ducks to do well this week. If they lose their first game at the Pac-12 tournament, then it’s possible that they could slip to a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament.

If that happens, they could face a No. 6 seed in the second round, which would be no cake-walk, as teams in this group will be ranked in the top 25. Obviously, it would be better for the Ducks to avoid top-25 opponents until the Sweet 16.

Oregon is hoping for a strong finish to what has been a banner year for the program, with two legitimate stars leading the way.

Sophomore guard Sabrina Ionescu, the Pac-12 Player of the Year from Walnut Creek, California, leads the Ducks at 19.2 points and 7.8 assists per game, and sophomore forward Ruthy Hebard, from Fairbanks, Alaska, is averaging 18.0 points and a team-high 8.6 rebounds per game.

This also will be the final stretch for a senior who was the first recruits Graves brought in when he took over the program in 2014 — guard Lexi Bando.

“Winning the conference championship is just such a surreal feeling,” Bando, from Willamette High school in Eugene, told GoDucks.com. “To see where the program has gone from my freshman year to now is just incredible and very well-deserved.”